LatinoBuzz: How Do We Turn a Latino Film Into a Latino Blockbuster?

By
Vanessa Erazo
|
SydneysBuzzApril 24, 2013 at 1:30PM

The internet has been buzzing about Filly Brown. The film starring Gina Rodriguez, Lou Diamond Phillips, Edward James Olmos, and Jenni Rivera hit theaters this past Friday and made close to $1.5 million over the weekend. It’s an impressive opening for an independent Latino film.

The internet has been buzzing about Filly Brown. The film starring Gina
Rodriguez, Lou Diamond Phillips, Edward James Olmos, and Jenni Rivera hit
theaters this past Friday and made close to $1.5 million over the weekend. It’s
an impressive opening for an independent Latino film.

Historically, Latino films have struggled at the box office
but once in a while there’s a breakout hit. Last year’s most successful Latino
film Casa de mi Padre, a
Spanish-language comedy starring Will Ferrell, Diego Luna, and Gael Garcia
Bernal, made $5.9 million. Only two other films were able to surpass the
million dollar mark, For Greater Glory
starring Andy Garcia, Eva Longoria, and Ruben Blades ($5.6 million) and Girl in Progressstarring Eva Mendes
($2.6 million). The remaining top
grossing Latino films of 2012 each made less than $200,000.
(Take into consideration that mainstream Hollywood blockbusters make hundreds
of millions of dollars.)

What does it take for a
Latino film to hit it big?

It’s hard to predict what makes any film successful but there
are a few factors that can help. Last year’s hits all had big name stars. So far
this year’s Latino blockbusters (I’m using this term loosely) have also had the
benefit of celebrity lead actors, an Oscar nomination, and being adapted from a
popular Chicano novel. NO, starring
Gael Garcia Bernal, grossed $2 million and earned Chile its first ever Best
Foreign Language Film nomination. Bless
Me Ultima brought Rudolfo Anaya’s beloved book of the same title to the
screen and reached $1.5 million.

Is that all it takes, a
famous actor?

No, not really. There are lots of examples of films with
celebrities attached that bombed at the box office. But, it definitely helps.
So does using targeted traditional marketing, getting some good reviews,
employing grassroots techniques such as advance screenings to build word of
mouth, and engaging audiences with social media. It’s not rocket science; it’s
the same for all indie films not just Latino ones. But, despite the fact that
Latinos go to movies way more than other ethnic groups marketers have mostly
failed at attracting Latino audiences to Latino films, en masse.

What’s been tried in the
past?

There was a time in the eighties known as the “Hispanic
Hollywood” when major studios distributed films like the smash hit La Bamba($45 million), Born in East L.A. ($17 million), and Stand and Deliver ($14 million). For the
first time they created bilingual marketing campaigns and even circulated film
prints that were subtitled or dubbed in Spanish.

In the early nineties, studios moved away from grassroots
campaigns and poured their money into English and Spanish-language television
advertising. They also hoped for a few good reviews from newspaper critics to
help raise a film’s visibility. Towards the late nineties, as it became
apparent that Latino films were not likely to be box office hits distributors
began to experiment with “hybrid films” that included multiethnic casts and
targeted a general audience.

At the turn of the millennium, Latino and Latin American
movies experienced a golden era in the States. Films like Frida, Once Upon a Time in Mexico, Y Tu Mama Tambien, El Crimen de
Padre Amaro, and City of Godearned
multiple Oscar nominations and millions at the box office. They achieved these
numbers by not emphasizing the Latino elements of the films and targeting a
more ethnically diverse audience including arthouse moviegoers. Despite the
success of these films, a Latino box office slump quickly followed.

What do we do now?

What’s been tried in the past hasn’t worked, except for a few
outliers. I personally think that the theatrical distribution of Latino films
is a mistake. It is not a moneymaking venture. Yes, Latinos go to the movies a
lot but these filmgoers are mostly young English-speaking Latinos who, up until
now, have not shown interest in Latino films (in English or Spanish.) But, I do
think there is way to make it work, to get Latinos to watch Latino films.

Let’s use what we know about this audience. Latinos watch
movies more than other ethnic groups and they are the fastest growing group of
internet users. The moviegoers are young, speak English as a first language,
and use social media. They also watch a lot of television, in English and
Spanish. Recently, the Spanish-language network Univision has been beating
out NBC in primetime ratings for the key demographic of adults aged
18-49 (mostly because Latinos love novelas.)

Independent Latino films can’t spend a bunch of money on T.V.
ads, print advertising, or make multiple copies to circulate in theaters. So,
what’s the magic formula? Maybe a small theatrical run (N.Y. and L.A.) for a
weekend preceded by a big bilingual social media push and then followed by a
V.O.D. release and online streaming. On demand screenings via Tugg might help
build buzz too.

Obviously, it’s all a gamble. Who knows if it will work but I
truly believe that the failure to attract Latinos to watch these films is a
marketing issue. Talk to Latinos in their language (maybe Spanglish) via media
channels that they use (i.e. Facebook and Twitter) and give them the option to
watch the film on a small screen as soon as they hear about it. It’s worth a
try!